Gun mounting adapted to be divided into separate loads



` March 26, 1935. H. HERLACH GUN MOUNTING ADAPTED TO BE DIVIDED INTOSEYARATE LOADS Filedl NOV. 27, 1935 .AT1-m RN EY.

Patented "Mar: 26, 7 1 935 onu- MoUNriNG AnAr'rEn f y www A ger To BEioivnnrnl 1` g5, INTQSEARATE LOADS Heinrich Herlach, Solothurn,

Switzerland, as-l 't I `,signor to Waffenfabrik Solothurn A-G., Solo- 5assembling of the gun mounting for firing can known per se, between twobecarried out' asrapidly andas safely as possible. The carrying'outofythese measures, particf ularly in thecaseof modernmountingsforina'- chine guns of 2 cm. calibre or more, is hindered by the elevatingand'traversing gear which inthe form of Agear.mechanism connect one unit"with another, for instance, a Ygun carrying saddle ,unit and a baseunit supporting the` saddle unit. Y

The objectof the-Ainventionis tti-.simplify the separation and assemblypf the units while taking into consideration-such4 mechanicalconnections as are provided Vfor instance `for traversing 'the gun andadjusting thegsights to such anV extent that when the gun mounting -istaken apart the gearing can also be separatedwithout any` specialmanipulatiomso that the: possibility of damage is greatly reduced,andfpartoularly when assembling the gun mounting, it is `nolongernecessary to maintain a definite coupling position f or the partsofthe gearing. i A For this purpose, according-to` the invention, thegun `aiming gearing, divided'. in a v.manner units such as 1 a `gunsaddle unit and a baseunitas aforesaid, is provided with shaft portionsabutting againstfeach other and each associated Withga diferentunit,

, `said shaft portions contacting at a plane` of separation of the unitsand having members `which when; the` gun mountingisassembled alsobring,aboutrautomatically the con-v nection of the gearing. 5Furthermore, Yat -least one ofthe two coupling `members of-apairfismovable from its position'vengaging the corre'-A sponding member,`against the action ofa spring, to the extent necessary fordisengagement. This kmakes it it no longer'necessary vto ensure an.exact coupling position atthertime theunits are assembled.Y `When the`units, `arevassembled,` if thegshaft portions dofnotliein thefangular\rela-' tionship to eachother permitting'thecouplingV membersimmediately to engage, one of "them i can yield owing `to the presenceofthe spring and will remain retracted until, i by a subsequent-lturning of a shaftportion,thecoupling'members come into register andre-engage, b'y the' spring action.` Such aV detachable connection? ofthe elevating and traversing gear in the plane of separation of thesaddle and base units also permits a rapid lateral adjustment of thesaddle by hand, independently of the 'traversing gear, if, `accord.-

fiexible coupling Switzerland, a corporation of VSwitinringto afurtherfeature `offthe invention, the

coupling clawsyprotruding.,beyond the vplane of sliding Vcontact areadaptedpto be fixed in a .flushf Qrwithdrawn position with respect tothe slidingrsurface.

Anexample of" construction of a gun carriage `according .to theinvention isrshown in the accompanying drawingi n which Fig. -1 is aside View of the gun'mounting assembled for firing and Fig `2 is aVertical` section on an `enlarged scale of theappropriatetraversinggear.

i The saddle 3 ,which carries the gun ,ein such a manner as to allow itto1-be pivoted about a hori- .'zontalfaxis,V smounted so las` to becapable of turning about `a vertical axisV through 360, vthat is tosayina circle, onha fixed base 1 by4 means of a pivotgmemberZ adapted toturn therein. ThesaddleS is securedlin known manner against upwardmovement'onfthe pivottmember 2pby an easily detachablescrew connection2,', 3 or the like. After the` detachment jof,such connection the saddle3 is-connectedwiththe pivot 2 or the head 1 only ,byway of thegearmembers of the traversing gear; and jone` which influences. theclinometer'sight 7. The hitherto known and usual construction ofxthegunmounting is rendered suitable forI a rapid and -safe dismantling intoseparate units V`and safe,.reassembly, by the' particular transverse.1vdivision of. the elevating gear which permitsan unhindered removal ofthe unit including the saddle. v v

To the basel there is` firmly connected an arn-V Vbase l; is agear.wheellwhichacts on 4the clinometer sight 7, and`witliwhichgear'wheelthere engagesthefpinion 6" Whichfalsofis mounted on ithepivotmember l2.A The 4driving shaft ofthe pinion 6 `and the drivingshaft of the pinion 6' are each dividedltransverselyliSAt the point ofseparation each of tliel shortf'shaft ends Vof the two pinions 6,-6" isprovided with a frustoconical` Y groove ,9 or 9 in which the shaft ends8V or 8 of the elevating gear engage by means of suitably shapedcoupling' dogs. Thesh'aft ends 8, 8 are mounted so as to be4 axiallydisplaceable and are pressed constantl'yinto the coupling position by.

springs 10,10', so that after the gun mounting has been assembled theyspring automatically into engagement with the shafts of the pinions 6,`

2 6 when the saddle 3 assumes the correct coupling pivotal-position inrespect of the pivot member 2.

The shaft ends 8, 8 are prevented from turning with respect to theircorresponding gears in like manner, the one by a sliding spring 10 and agroove 11 in the worm Wheel 12, the other by a key 13 and a groove 13 inthe bushY 14. The worm wheel 12 is turned by a Worm 15, which in itsturn vis driven by the hand wheel 17 through a mechanism 16 for morerapid or slower lateral swinging. In the bush 14 which is rotatablymounted in the bush 18 connected firmly to the saddle and on therotation of the pinion 6'is carried along by the coupling shaft 8',there vis soldered a flexible shaft 19 which serves to actuatev theclinometer sight 7, so that all traversing movements of the gun carriageare 'communif catedto the clinometer sight 7.

Owing to the fact that they can bedisplaced axially, the coupling shafts8, 8 are displaced lautomatically from their coupling position in whichthey proec't beyond the plane'of separa tion, when, on 'the vassemi'alyof the saddle'and base units, the coupling position of the divided gearshafts 8`o` or 86" is not attained at the outset, either because the'centre axes of the separated halves do not run in line, 'or because`the coupling notches 9, 9 are displaced in respect of the couplingdogs. i'

The transverse separation of the driving shaft 8 of the traversing gear,owing to the possibility of the coupling'connection 9 being disconnectedby hand, also permits 'a free swinging of the gun cradle. In the upperend of the shaft 8 there is screwed in a headed screw 20, the head 20"which rests on a handle 21 adapted 'to be turned about the couplingshaft 8. This handle rests with the opposite surface 'on the housingcover 22.: The Contact surface of the two parts 21, 22 lies in twoparallel planes which 'are connected by a bevel surface 23. Ton being'turned Athe .lever 21 runs over the inclined surface y23, so that itslower supporting surface comes into posi-tion on the upper surface cithe cover 22. The screw 2o causes the raising of the coupling `bolt 8 bythis change in height, `so that its coupling dog .is disengaged from thenotch 9 of the pinion o. The coupling bolt 8 thereby compresses' thecoupling spring 10 which is held by a pin 24 in the worin wheel 1.2which at the same time forms the axial 'guide for preventing a turning"movement of' the bolt 8 during this adjustment.A The compression of thespring 10 secures the handle 21 inl the adjusted position against aninvoluntary backward turning. l

` To return to the traversing position'for operation by means of the guntrainingmechanism, the lever 21 must be reversed, then the coupling bolt8, under the influence of the spring 10, 'ene gages in the notch '9 ofther .pinion 6. If, as will4 be the case in consequence of the rotationof the pinion -6 `which idles about the gear wheel 4 during the freelateral swinging movement, the notch stands offset in relation to thecoupling member, the coupling will spring in automatically as soon asthe coupling position has been attained by a short manipulation of theelevatA ing gear. Y

I claimz- 1. In a gun carriage dis'mountable for transport into unitsincluding a saddle unit in which the gun is mounted 'and a base unit inwhich the saddle unit is supported, and having gun aiming mechanismassociated partly with the saddle unit and partly with the base unit;the arrangement that the gun aiming mechanism comprises separable shaftportions, one in each unit, and in abutting contact with each other at aplane ofdivision of said units When they are assembled, coupling meanson the shaft portions at the place of contact, said coupling means beingadapted to interlock with each other in a denite angular f relationshipof the shaft portions, and yielding means in one of the units for urgingthe correspending shaft portion towards the other shaft portion andpermitting assembly of the units independently of the angularrelationship of the shaft portions. Y

2. ln av carriage dismountable for transport into units including asaddle unit in which the gun is mounted and a base unit in which thesaddle unit is supported, and having gun aiming mechanismassociatedpartly -with the saddle unit and `'partly with the baseuni't;the arrangement that the gun aiming mechanism comprisesfseparable shaftportions, one in each unit,k and in abutting contact with each other at'a plane of division or said 'units when they are assembled, couplingmeans on the shaft portions at the place of contact, said couplingmeans'be'ing adapted to interlock with each other in a definite angularrelationship of the shaft portions, yielding means vin one of the unitsfor urging the corresponding shaft portion towards theother shaftportion and permitting assembly of the units independently of theangular relationship of the shaft portions, and manually operable meansfor retracting the shaft portion acted upon bythe yielding meanssl'liiicientlyk away from the other vshaft portion tov disengage thecoupling means.

3. In'a gun carriage disinountable for trans`v port into units includinga saddle unit in which the is mounted'a'nd a base unit in which thesaddle unit is supported, and having gun aiming' mechanism associatedpartly with the saddle unit and partly with the base unit; thearrangement that the gun aiming mechanism comprises separable shaftportions, one in each unit, and in abutting contact with each other at aplane of division of said units when they are assembled, coupling meanson the shaft portions at the place of contact, said'coupling means beingadapted to f' interlock with each other' a deiinite angular relationshipof the shaft portions, yielding means in one of the units for urging thecorresponding shaft portion towards the otherf'shaft portion andpe'rmittingassembly of the units independently I of the angularrelationship of the shaft portions, and manually operable means forretracting the shaft portion acted upon by the yielding meanssufficiently away from the other shaft portion to disengage the couplingmeans and'for retaining the said shaft portion thus retracted.

4. A gun carriage arrangement' according to claim Y1.,.in which oneshaft portion has a transverse groove and the other shaft portion has acorresponding projecting tongue in the abutting surfaces of the shafts.

5. vA gun carriage arrangement according to claim 1, in which the gunaiming mechanism comprises elevating gearing and traversing gear-y ing,both including separable shaft portions provided with coupling means andyielding means.

HEINRICH HERLACH.

